The present invention relates to a method of inspecting or evaluating a constant-velocity joint for use in a power transmitting mechanism for automobiles or the like.
One known method of inspecting or evaluating a constant-velocity joint for use in an automobile drive shaft or the like is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 1(1989)-259235. According to the disclosed method, the inner and outer members of a constant-velocity joint are rotatably held, and then the inner member is tilted while it is rotating. Torques imposed to rotate the inner members at given tilt angles are measured and their maximum and minimum values are detected. Then, the detected maximum and minimum torque values are compared with reference values to determine whether the inspected constant-velocity joint is good or not, i.e., acceptable or not.
The disclosed inspection process allows automatization of the conventional manual inspection procedure which has heretofore been carried out by skilled workers, and hence is highly efficient and reliable in evaluating constant-velocity joints. For sufficient inspection, however, it is necessary to measure maximum and minimum torque values while keeping the inner member tilted at a number of different angles. Measuring maximum and minimum torque values at many different angles requires a long period of time before a constant-velocity joint is evaluated, and presents an obstacle to efforts to further improve the inspection efficiency.
If the number of different angles for torque measurement were reduced in order to increase the inspection efficiency, then no torque would be measured between the angles, and constant-velocity joints would not be evaluated accurately.